Next generation intelligent mesh network with fronthaul and backhaul services

ABSTRACT

A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium provide to establish a link with a wireless station of a wireless access network that is one of a next generation partial mesh network or a next generation full mesh network; receive current control information pertaining to one or multiple second links of a data plane for end user traffic that are between the wireless station and one or multiple wireless stations, the current control information including link information, service performance information, or traffic flow information; analyze the current control information; determine whether the one or multiple second links should be changed; change one or more of the one or more multiple second links when determining that the one or multiple second links should be changed; and transmit, to the wireless station, routing and forwarding information that indicates the one or more of the one or more multiple second links.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/242,702 filed on Aug. 22, 2016, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Fifth Generation (5G) wireless technology is under development. Since itis the aim of any next generation technology to surpass the performanceof the existing generation, various architectures are being discussed,such as software-defined networking (SDN), network functionsvirtualization (NFV), and network virtualization, which are designed toimprove various parameters, such as traffic capacity, latency, datathroughput, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary environment in which anexemplary embodiment of next generation fronthaul and backhaul servicesmay be implemented;

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating exemplary elements of a wirelessstation depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating exemplary elements of a data centerdepicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary table that stores networkinformation;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a device thatmay correspond to one or more of the devices illustrated herein;

FIGS. 5A-5E are diagrams illustrating an exemplary process of the 5Gfronthaul and backhaul services;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flow diagrams illustrating an exemplary process of afronthaul and backhaul connectivity service;

FIGS. 7A-7C are flow diagrams illustrating an exemplary process of abackhaul service;

FIGS. 8A-8D are diagram illustrating exemplary configurations of awireless station; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary locale at which thewireless mesh network depicted in FIG. 1 may be deployed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the sameor similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does notlimit the invention.

Since the number of devices and correspondingly the amount of traffic isexpected to grow at dramatic rates in the years to come, next generationtechnology, such as 5G technology will be expected to satisfy variousperformance, network management, and cost issues for network operators.As used herein, the term 5G is referring to an advanced or nextgeneration wireless network and is not intended to limit the disclosedembodiments to any specific standard or evolution of advanced wirelessnetworks.

One approach for a next generation network, such as, for example, a 5Gnetwork, is the deployment of a heterogeneous network (HetNet) thatincludes different layers of cells. For example, the HetNet may includemacro cells and small cells. Deployment of small cells to support 5Gtechnology is recognized as a solution to provide capacity and coverage,particularly in geographic areas where service cannot be supported usinga macro cell architecture, such as in urban areas, indoor environments,etc. However, one issue is backhaul connectivity from small cells to amacro cell or other backend system.

Exemplary embodiments may be directed to a next generation network. Thephrase “next generation” may refer to a future generation wirelessnetwork and/or standard. The next generation network may includebackward capabilities toward a previous generation and/or standard.According to an exemplary embodiment, an intelligent wireless meshnetwork (IWMN) for next generation fronthaul and backhaul connectivityis provided. According to an exemplary embodiment, the intelligentwireless mesh network includes smart wireless stations that eachservices a small cell. According to an exemplary embodiment, each smartwireless station includes logic that provides a 5G fronthaul service anda 5G backhaul connection service, as described herein. The 5G fronthaulservice includes a discovery and neighbor selection service and amulti-active multi-path service, as described herein. The 5G backhaulconnectivity service includes a reporting service and a backhaul controlservice. These services support the selection of optimal routes andsubsequent routing of traffic from an end device to a macro cell orother backend system or network based on the state of the intelligentwireless mesh network. According to an exemplary implementation,multiple paths may be selected and used in the intelligent wireless meshnetwork to provide multiple active flows of traffic for a sessionbetween the end device and the backend system. In this way, redundancy,reliability, and throughput may be maximized. The intelligent wirelessmesh network may support virtual configurations of various topologies,such as a ring, daisy-chain, tree, star, or other type of topology, whenrouting the traffic.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the smart wireless stationincludes a smart antenna. According to an exemplary implementation, thesmart antenna provides 360 degree coverage. According to other exemplaryimplementations, the smart antenna provides coverage in any rangebetween 0 and 360 degrees (e.g., 270 degrees, 180 degrees, 120 degrees,90 degrees, etc.). The intelligent wireless mesh network may useprotocols that support various architectures, such as virtual radioaccess network (vRAN), SDN, and/or NFV.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the smart wireless station maycommunicate within a frequency spectrum between about 28 Gigahertz (GHz)and about 60 GHz. According to other exemplary embodiments, the smartwireless station may communicate within a different frequency spectrum,such as somewhere between about 1 GHz and about 100 GHz. According to anexemplary embodiment, the intelligent wireless mesh network-to-fiber maycommunicate within the spectrum between about 70 GHz and about 90 GHz.According to an exemplary implementation, the smart wireless stationuses a directional antenna to connect to a hub system. According toother exemplary embodiments, the intelligent wireless meshnetwork-to-fiber may communicate within a different spectrum.

In view of the foregoing, next generation fronthaul and backhaulservices are provided that afford optimal multi-active flows of trafficin support of an end device session.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary environment 100 in whichan exemplary embodiment of intelligent next generation fronthaul andbackhaul services may be implemented. As illustrated, environment 100includes intelligent wireless mesh network 105. Intelligent wirelessmesh network 105 includes wireless stations 110-1 through 110-13 (alsoreferred to collectively as wireless stations 110 and, individually orgenerally as wireless station 110). Environment 100 further includeshubs 150-1 and 150-2 (also referred to collectively as hubs 150 and,individually or generally as hub 150) and data centers 155-1 and 155-2(also referred to collectively as data centers 155 and, individually orgenerally as data center 155). Environment 100 also includes an enddevice 160.

Environment 100 includes links between intelligent wireless mesh network105 and hubs 150. For example, environment 100 includes links 152-1 and152-2 between wireless station 110 and hub 150. Environment 100 alsoincludes links between hubs 150 and data centers 155 as well as linksbetween data centers 155. For example, environment 100 includes links153-1 and 153-2 between hubs 150 and data centers 155 and link 154between data centers 155. Environment 100 may be implemented to includewired, optical, and/or wireless links among the devices and the networkillustrated. A communicative connection via a link may be direct orindirect. For example, an indirect communicative connection may involvean intermediary device and/or an intermediary network not illustrated inFIG. 1. For example, environment 100 may include a relay node (RN) orother type of wireless node (e.g., a home evolved Node B (HeNB), a donoreNB (DeNB), a remote radio head (RRH), a gateway, etc.). Additionally,or alternatively, environment 100 may include an intermediary network,such as a WiFi network, a Bluetooth network, or other type of capillarynetwork. The number and the arrangement of links illustrated inenvironment 100 are exemplary.

A device may be implemented according to a centralized computingarchitecture, a distributed computing architecture, or a cloud computingarchitecture (e.g., an elastic cloud, a private cloud, a public cloud,etc.). Additionally, a device may be implemented according to one ormultiple network architectures (e.g., a client device, a server device,a peer device, a proxy device, and/or a cloud device).

The number of devices, the number of networks, and the configuration inenvironment 100 are exemplary. According to other embodiments,environment 100 may include additional devices, fewer devices, and/ordifferently arranged devices, than those illustrated in FIG. 1. Forexample, the number of wireless stations 110, hubs 150, and data centers155 are exemplary. Additionally, or alternatively, environment 100 mayinclude, for example, an additional network and/or differently arrangednetworks, than those illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, environment 100may include a core network, the Internet, the Web, an Internet ProtocolMultimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, a Rich Communication Service (RCS)network, a cloud network, or other type of network that may provide anasset (e.g., multimedia, audio and/or video, etc.), an end user service,etc.

While exemplary embodiments provided in this description are describedbased on the use of a particular spectrum, type of link (optical,wireless, etc.), or other characteristic, such embodiments may alsosupport other technologies not specifically described. For example,wireless station 110, hub 150, and/or data center 155 may support legacytechnologies (e.g., Fourth Generation (4G), Third Generation (3G),etc.), Ethernet, Wi-Fi, WiMax, etc., or other wireless technologies(e.g., Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15, etc). Additionally, for example, wirelessstation 110, hub 150, and/or data center 155 may support currentlydeveloping or future technologies, frameworks, specifications,architectures, and/or platforms, such as SDN, NFV, OpenFlow,OpenDaylight, OpenStack, cloud computing, cloud radio access network(CRAN), fog computing, or other next generation-related technologies.

Intelligent wireless mesh network 105 includes a next generationwireless network. For example, intelligent wireless mesh network 105includes a 5G wireless network. Intelligent wireless mesh network 105may be implemented as an indoor network, an outdoor network, anoutdoor-to-indoor network, or some combination thereof. Intelligentwireless mesh network 105 may be implemented as a local area network(LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), orother type of terrestrial network. Intelligent wireless mesh network 105provides a 5G fronthaul service and a 5G backhaul connection service.Wireless stations 110 of intelligent wireless mesh network 105 may begeographically arranged to allow for line of sight between two or morewireless stations 110. Additionally, or alternatively, wireless stations110 of intelligent wireless mesh network 105 may be geographicallyarranged such that a non-line of sight exists between two or morewireless stations 110. Intelligent wireless mesh network 105 may beimplemented as a full mesh network or a partial mesh network.

Wireless station 110 includes a network device that has computationaland wireless communicative capabilities. According to an exemplaryembodiment, wireless station 110 communicates within a spectrum betweenabout 28 GHz and about 60 GHz. According to other exemplary embodiments,wireless station 110 communicates within a different spectrum, such assomewhere between about 1 GHz and about 100 GHz. Wireless station 110may be implemented to include a radio remote unit (RRU). For example,the radio remote unit may include radio circuitry that couples to anantenna to receive a radio frequency signal from the antenna and radiocircuitry that couples to the antenna to transmit a radio frequencysignal to the antenna. By way of example, the radio circuitry mayinclude various elements, such as an oscillator, a filter, an amplifier,a converter (e.g., analog-to-digital, digital-to-analog), a clock,transmitter circuitry, receiver circuitry, an interface to/from basebandlogic, a buffer, and so forth. Alternatively, wireless station 110 maybe implemented to include a radio remote unit and a baseband unit (BBU).The baseband unit may include baseband receiving circuitry and basebandtransmission circuitry. The baseband unit may include various elements,such as a modem, an encoder/decoder, a clock, memory, an interfaceto/from radio remote unit, and so forth.

According to an exemplary embodiment, wireless station 110 includeslogic of a smart network device that provides small cell coverage.According to an exemplary embodiment, wireless station 110 includeslogic that provides a next generation fronthaul service. For example, a5G fronthaul service includes a discovery and neighbor selection serviceand a multi-active multi-path service. The discovery and neighborselection service discovers and selects an adjacent wireless station110. The multi-active multipath service provides a data forwarding planefrom wireless station 110 to hub 150. The data forwarding plane maysupport multiple active routes and traffic flows associated with asession between end device 160 and a backend system. The 5G fronthaulservice is described further below.

According to an exemplary embodiment, wireless station 110 includeslogic that provides a next generation backhaul connection service. Forexample, a 5G backhaul connection service includes the reporting serviceand the backhaul control service. The reporting service provides datacenter 155 with control information regarding the state of intelligentwireless mesh network 105. The frequency of the reporting of the controlinformation may be configurable, such as periodically, event-triggered,and/or some other time frame. According to an exemplary implementation,wireless station 110 includes a directional antenna that can wirelesslytransmit data to and wirelessly receive data from hub 150. According toan exemplary embodiment, wireless station 110 transmits data to andreceives data from hub 150 within a spectrum between about 70 GHz andabout 90 GHz. According to other exemplary embodiment, the spectrumwithin which wireless station 110 and hub 150 communicates may bedifferent. The backhaul control service receives control informationfrom the backend system and configures wireless station 110 to providethe fronthaul service. The 5G backhaul connectivity service is describedfurther below.

Hub 150 includes a network device that has computational and wirelesscommunicative capabilities. According to an exemplary implementation,hub 150 may be a macrocell site that provides macro cell coverage. Forexample, hub 150 may include an eNB. According to another exemplaryimplementation, hub 150 may be a dedicated node. For example, hub 150may include a gateway. According to an exemplary embodiment, hub 150includes a wireless station to wirelessly transmit data to andwirelessly receive data from wireless station 110. According to anexemplary embodiment, hub 150 transmits data to and receives data fromwireless station 110 within a spectrum between about 70 GHz and about 90GHz. According to other exemplary embodiment, the spectrum within whichhub 150 and wireless station 110 communicates may be different andbetween about 1 GHz and about 100 GHz. The connectivity between wirelessstations 110 and hub 150 may be implemented according to varioustopologies. For example, wireless stations 110 and hub 150 may beconnected according to a point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, a startopology, or a mesh topology.

Hub 150 includes logic that provides a small cell aggregation service.For example, hub 150 provides traffic aggregation based on the dataflows from and to wireless stations 110. The traffic aggregation mayinclude various traffic handling mechanisms, such as total aggregationor partial aggregation, queuing, scheduling, filtering, and/or loadbalancing. According to an exemplary implementation, hub 150 includesbaseband units for wireless stations 110. According to other exemplaryimplementations, hub 150 does not include baseband units for wirelessstations 110.

According to an exemplary embodiment, hub 150 includes an optical fiberinterface that provides backhaul connectivity to data center 155.According to other exemplary embodiments, hub 150 includes a wirelessinterface or another type of wired interface that provides backhaulconnectivity to data center 155. According to an exemplaryimplementation, hub 150 includes a baseband unit for data center 155.

Data center 155 includes a network device that has computationalcapabilities. According to an exemplary embodiment, data center 155provides a next generation backhaul service. For example, a 5G backhaulservice includes a backend connection service and a mesh networkcontroller service. The backend connection service provides connectivityto other networks, such as the Internet, the Web, a core network, orother type of backend system or network (not illustrated). The meshnetwork controller service manages mesh topology and routing ofintelligent wireless mesh network 105. According to an exemplaryimplementation, data center 155 includes baseband units for wirelessstations 110. The 5G backhaul service is described further below.

End device 160 includes a device that has computational and wirelesscommunicative capabilities. End device 160 may be implemented as amobile device, a portable device, or a stationary device. End device 160may be implemented as a machine-type communication (MTC) device, anInternet of Things (IoT) device, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, oran end user device. For example, the end user device may be implementedas a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet, a laptop, anetbook, a phablet, a wearable device, a set top box, an infotainmentsystem in a vehicle, a game system, a music playing system, or someother type of wireless device (e.g., a kiosk, etc.). According to anexemplary embodiment, end device 160 includes logic that provides amultiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) service. The MIMO service permitsend device 160 to transmit data to and receive data from multiplewireless stations 110 in support of an end device session. For example,end device 160 may include logic that provides antenna correlation,beamforming, spatial diversity, interference mitigation, full-duplexcommunication, etc.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating exemplary elements of an exemplaryembodiment of wireless station 110. As illustrated, wireless station 110includes a discovery controller 200, a link controller 202, a backendcontroller 204, and a topology and routing controller 206. According toother exemplary embodiments, wireless station 110 may includeadditional, fewer, and/or different elements than those illustrated inFIG. 2A and described herein. Additionally, multiple elements may becombined into a single element and/or a single element may beimplemented as multiple elements in which a process or a function may becollaboratively performed or multiple processes or functions may besplit between them. According to various embodiments, one or more of theelements may operate on various planes of environment 100. For example,the various planes may include a data plane, a control plane, amanagement plane, and/or other planes implemented within environment100. According to an exemplary embodiment, discovery controller 200,link controller 202, backend controller 204, and topology and routingcontroller 206 include logic that support the 5G fronthaul service andthe 5G backhaul connection service, as described herein.

Link 210 provides a communicative link between two or more elements.Link 210 may be implemented as a hardware link (e.g., a bus, a sharedmemory space, etc.), a software link (e.g., inter-process communication(IPC), etc.), or a combination thereof.

Discovery controller 200 includes logic that searches for an adjacentwireless station 110. Discovery controller 200 may control an antennasystem of wireless station 110 in terms of tilt, direction, panning,etc., as well as other parameters, such as scan frequency, beam forming,transmit power, etc. Discovery controller 200 includes logic thatevaluates a signal received from a candidate wireless station 110 todetermine whether the signal satisfies a threshold minimum value. Forexample, discovery controller 200 may measure the received power of areference signal and compare the measured power to a threshold value.Discovery controller 200 may also calculate other parameters (e.g.,reference signal quality, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINK), etc.) based on themeasured reference signal and compare the calculated parameter to athreshold value. Discovery controller 200 may search for a minimumnumber and/or a maximum number of adjacent wireless stations 110. Theminimum number and/or the maximum number of adjacent wireless stations110 may be configured by an administrator of intelligent wireless meshnetwork 105.

Discovery controller 200 includes logic that supports the backhaulcontrol service, as described herein. For example, discovery controller200 includes logic that configures the discovery service based oncontrol information received from data center 155.

Link controller 202 includes logic that establishes, maintains, andtears down links relative to other wireless stations 110 in intelligentwireless mesh network 105. Link controller 202 includes logic thatcalculates a link budget parameter for a link in which discoverycontroller 200 indicates that the threshold value has been satisfied.According to an exemplary implementation, link controller 202 calculatesa link budget for a line of sight (LOS) link with sufficient FresnelZone clearance. According to other exemplary implementations, linkcontroller 202 calculates a link budget for a non-line of sight (NLOS)link. Link controller 202 may use various parameters pertaining tosystem gain, free-space path loss, multipath and fade margin,availability, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), etc., to calculate the linkbudget. Provided below is Table 1 that illustrates exemplary link budgetinformation used to calculate a link budget for a line of sight link.

TABLE 1 Parameter Wireless station A Wireless station B Latitude 38 1949.93 N 38 19 42.42 N Longitude 122 00 29.92 W 121 59 49.71 W Trueazimuth (°) 103.34 283.34 Vertical angle (°) 7.61 −7.43 Elevation (ft)226.33 689.70 Antenna model SB1-W800CNEI-FCC SB1-W800CNEI-FCC (TR) (TR)Antenna gain (dBi) 44.00 44.00 Antenna height (ft) 8.00 8.00 TX loss(dB) 0.00 0.00 RX loss (dB) 0.00 0.00 Radio model 80 GHz 500 m 64Q 80GHz 500 m 64Q TX power (dBm) 11.00 11.00 Equivalent Isotropically 55.0055.00 Radiated Power (EIRP) (dBm) Receive signal (dBm) −32.52 −32.52Thermal fade margin 23.48 23.48 (dB) Effective fade margin 23.19 23.19(dB) Annual rain + multipath 99.99979 availability (%) Annual rain +multipath 0.00021 unavailability (%) Annual rain + multipath 1.08unavailability (min)

According to other exemplary implementations, the link budgetinformation may include additional, fewer, and/or different factors,values, etc. than those illustrated in Table 1. For example, link budgetinformation may include a value pertaining to loss resulting fromNLOS-propagation effects, distance between wireless stations, and/orother types of parameters and values.

Link controller 202 includes logic that calculates a link budget valuerepresentative of the link budget based on the parameters and values.Link controller 202 includes logic that compares the link budget valueto a threshold link budget value to determine whether the link issatisfactory. When link controller 202 determines that the link budgetvalue satisfies the threshold link budget value, link controller 202includes logic to establish the link. For example, link controller 202may perform various handshaking processes with the adjacent wirelessstation 110 to establish the link. By way of further example, linkcontroller 202 may time synchronize with the adjacent wireless station110, exchange communication information (e.g., transmit and receivefrequencies, etc.), perform authentication, etc. When link controller202 determines that the link budget value does not satisfy the thresholdlink budget value, link controller 202 may discard this link as acandidate link for forwarding traffic. According to otherimplementations, link controller 202 may also compare a parameter andvalue of the link budget to a threshold parameter value. When linkcontroller 202 determines that the parameter and value do not satisfythe threshold parameter value, link controller 202 may discard this linkas a candidate link for forwarding traffic.

Link controller 202 includes logic that continually monitors link stateand updates the link budget for an active link (e.g., traffic flowingvia the link) and an established link (e.g., traffic not flowing via thelink). Link controller 202 may generate and store link information thatincludes, for example, link parameters and values, link calculations,and link budget reports. The link information is made available to the5G backhaul service via the reporting service of wireless station 110.Links may be established, maintained, and torn down based on controlinformation received from data center 155. Link controller 202 includeslogic that supports the backhaul control service, as described herein.For example, link controller 202 includes logic that configures theneighbor selection service and the reporting service based on controlinformation received from data center 155.

Backend controller 204 includes logic that provides the reportingservice. Backend controller 204 manages backend communication to andfrom hub 150 and data center 155. According to an exemplaryimplementation, backend controller 204 may transmit control information,such as link information (e.g., link parameters, link calculations, linkbudget reports), service performance information (e.g., serviceperformance parameters, service performance calculations, serviceperformance reports), and traffic flow information to hub 150 or datacenter 155. According to other exemplary implementations, backendcontroller 204 may transmit additional, fewer, and/or differentinstances of control information. For example, backend controller 204may transmit network topology information that indicates a topology(e.g., full or partial) of intelligent wireless mesh network 105. Also,backend controller 204 may receive various types of control information.According to an exemplary implementation, backend controller 204 mayreceive network topology information pertaining to the topology (e.g.,full or partial) of intelligent wireless mesh network 105 and routingand forwarding information from hub 150 or data center 155. According toother exemplary implementations, backend controller 204 may receiveadditional, fewer, and/or different instances of control information.For example, the mesh network controller service of data center 155 mayprovide a control instruction to wireless station 110 via backendcontroller 204. The control instruction may instruct wireless station110 to operate in a certain manner. The control instruction may betemporary (e.g., in effect for a particular time period, condition,etc.), permanent, etc. As an example, a control instruction may indicateto wireless station 110 not to update network topology information whena new link with a new wireless station 110 is established, but to merelyreport the condition of the link between wireless station 110 and thenew wireless station 110 for a specified period of time.

Backend controller 204 includes logic that makes available the controlinformation from hub 150 or data center 155 to wireless station 110 soas to provide the 5G fronthaul service and the backhaul connectionservice. For example, the control information received may be used bythe backhaul control service of wireless station 110 that configureswireless station 110 (e.g. an element, such as topology and routingcontroller 206, link controller 202, etc.) according to the controlinformation, and in turn provide the multi-active multi-path service,the neighbor selection service, etc.

Topology and routing controller 206 includes logic that manages networktopology and routing of traffic on various planes. Topology and routingcontroller 206 stores a routing table and a forwarding table. Therouting table and the forwarding table may store various types ofinformation, such as interface and port information, network addressinformation, and path information. For example, path information mayinclude routes, virtual local area networks (VLANs), virtual circuits(VC), tunnels, pipes, and/or other communication segments withinintelligent wireless mesh network 105 to be used to provide thefronthaul service. According to an exemplary implementation, topologyand routing controller 206 includes logic that provides InternetProtocol (IP) routing and forwarding. According to an exemplaryimplementation, topology and routing controller 206 includes logic thatprovides routing and forwarding of traffic based on shortest paths.According to another exemplary implementation, topology and routingcontroller 206 includes logic that provides routing and forwarding oftraffic based on shortest paths and other trafficrequirements/performance metrics (e.g., jitter, latency, bit error rate,packet loss, etc.).

Topology and routing controller 206 includes logic that monitors trafficthat is received and transmitted via a plane of intelligent wirelessmesh network 105. Topology and routing controller 206 may generatetraffic flow information based on the monitoring. For example, thetraffic flow information may include source address, destinationaddress, source port, destination port, class of service, timestampsrelating to a time period of the traffic flow at wireless station 110(e.g., beginning, end, etc.), and/or other contextual or characteristicinformation pertaining to the traffic flow (e.g., the plane via whichthe traffic flow traverses, etc.).

Topology and routing controller 206 includes logic that providesoperations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) functions. Forexample, the OAM functions include performance monitoring of variousmetrics, such as latency (e.g., roundtrip, one-way), jitter, packetloss, availability, throughput, error rate, link utilization, andservice level agreement parameters, such as committed information rate(CIR), committed burst size, excess information rate, excess burst rate,etc. Additionally, for example, the OAM functions include faultdetection of various conditions, such as loopback, fault localization(e.g., wireless station, link), etc., and fault management, such as AISfunctions, remote defect detection, etc. Topology and routing controller206 may generate and store service performance information based on theOAM functions.

Topology and routing controller 206 includes logic that supports thebackhaul control service, as described herein. For example, topology androuting controller 206 includes logic that configures the multi-activemulti-path service and the reporting service based on controlinformation received from data center 155.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating exemplary elements of an exemplaryembodiment of data center 155. As illustrated, data center 155 mayinclude a front end controller 250, a topology controller 252, networkanalytics 254, and a network flows controller 256. According to otherexemplary embodiments, data center 155 may include additional, fewer,and/or different elements than those illustrated in FIG. 2B anddescribed herein. Additionally, multiple elements may be combined into asingle element and/or a single element may be implemented as multipleelements in which a process or a function may be collaborativelyperformed or multiple processes or functions may be split between them.According to various embodiments, one or more elements may operate onvarious planes of environment 100. For example, the various planes mayinclude a data plane, a control plane, a management plane, and/or otherplanes implemented within environment 100.

Link 260 provides a communicative link between two or more elements.Link 210 may be implemented as a hardware link (e.g., a bus, a sharedmemory space, etc.), a software link (e.g., IPC, etc.), or a combinationthereof.

Front end controller 250 includes logic that manages backendcommunication to and from hub 150 and wireless station 110. For example,front end controller 250 may receive control information, such as linkinformation, service performance information, and traffic flowinformation from wireless station 110. According to other exemplaryimplementations, front end controller 250 may receive additional, fewer,and/or different instances of control information. For example, frontend controller 250 may receive network topology information thatindicates a topology (e.g., full or partial) of intelligent wirelessmesh network 105. Also, front end controller 250 may transmit varioustypes of control information, such as network topology informationpertaining to intelligent wireless mesh network 105, controlinstructions, and routing and forwarding information to hub 150 orwireless station 110. According to other exemplary implementations,front end controller 250 may transmit additional, fewer, and/ordifferent instances of control information.

Front end controller 250 includes logic that makes available the controlinformation from hub 150 or wireless station 110 so as to provide the 5Gbackhaul service. For example, the control information may be used bythe mesh network controller service of data center 155 to governoperation of wireless station 110 and intelligent wireless mesh network105. For example, topology controller 252, network analytics 254, andnetwork flows controller 256 of data center 155 uses the controlinformation to monitor, configure, and manage the 5G fronthaul and 5Gbackhaul connection services provided by wireless station 110 andintelligent wireless mesh network 105.

Topology controller 252 includes logic that stores, manages, and updatesnetwork topology information pertaining to intelligent wireless meshnetwork 105. According to an exemplary embodiment, the network topologyinformation includes the topology of wireless stations 110 and links.Topology controller 252 includes logic that uses network analyticinformation to continually update the network topology information ofintelligent wireless mesh network 105. The network topology informationmay also include the topology of hub 150 and other data center 155.Topology controller 252 uses the control information (e.g., linkinformation, etc.) from wireless station 110 and other elements (e.g.,hub 150, other data center 155) to calculate the current topology.

Network analytics 254 includes logic that analyzes the link information,the service performance information, the traffic flow information, andthe network topology information. Based on the analysis, networkanalytics 254 calculates the current state of intelligent wireless meshnetwork 105. For example, network analytics 254 determines the state ofwireless stations 110 and links between wireless stations 110, betweenwireless station 110 and hub 150 as active/inactive, up/down, etc.Additionally, network analytics 254 calculates performance metrics, suchas throughput, latency, jitter, packet loss, availability, error rate,link utilization, service level agreement parameters (e.g., CIR, etc.),and/or other types of network performance and/or traffic characteristicspertaining to intelligent wireless mesh network 105. Network analytics254 may also determine the state of hubs 150, other data center 155, thestate of links between hub 150 and data center 155, between data centers155, the state of hub 150, the state of other data center 155, and/orother elements included in a 5G fronthaul and/or backhaulinfrastructure.

Network analytics 254 includes logic that stores network informationindicative of the current state. According to an exemplary embodiment,network analytics 254 includes a database management system (DBMS). TheDBMS may be implemented using conventional, well-known, or commerciallyavailable relational or No Structured Query Language (NoSQL)software/packages (e.g., Microsoft SQL, Oracle Database, Cassandra,MongoDB, etc.). Network analytics 254 includes a storage device thatstores a database. The database may store the network information invarious types of data structures, an example of which is describedbelow. FIG. 3 is a diagram that illustrates exemplary types of networkinformation that may be stored in a table 300. As illustrated, table 300includes a station identifier field 305, an adjacency with LOS field310, an adjacency without LOS field 315, an active paths field 320, alink throughput field 325, a station to data center throughput field330, a latency field 335, a jitter field 340, and a state field 345. Asfurther illustrated, table 300 includes profiles 350-1 through 350-X(also referred to as profiles 350 and, individually and generically asprofile 350). Each profile 350 includes a grouping of data fields 305through 345. Each profile 350 includes at least one instance of networkinformation that is different from another profile 350.

Station identifier field 305 stores data that indicates a uniqueidentifier of wireless station 110. For example, the unique identifiermay be numeric, alphanumeric, alphabetic, etc. Adjacency with LOS field310 stores data that indicates a wireless station 110 to which a line ofsight exists relative to the wireless station 110 identified in stationidentifier field 305. Adjacency without LOS field 315 stores data thatindicates a wireless station 110 to which a line of sight does not existrelative to the wireless station 110 identified in station identifierfield 305.

Active paths field 320 stores data that indicates an active path ofwhich the wireless station 110 identified in station identifier field305 is a node. Link throughput field 325 stores data that indicates alink throughput between the wireless station 110 identified in stationidentifier field 305 and another wireless station 110. Station to datacenter throughput field 330 stores data that indicates the throughputfrom the wireless station 110 identified in station identifier field 305to data center 155.

Latency field 335 stores data that indicates a latency for an activepath. Jitter field 340 stores data that indicates a jitter for an activepath. State field 345 indicates the state of the wireless station 110identified in station identifier field 305.

According to other implementations, table 300 may store additionalinstances of network information, fewer instances of networkinformation, and/or different types of network information. By way ofexample, table 300 may store network information pertaining to otherelements (e.g., hub 150, other data center 155, other links), othertypes of performance metrics (e.g., packet loss, etc.), contextualinformation (e.g., geographic information pertaining to intelligentwireless mesh network, wireless station 110, etc.; day, time, etc.),and/or other network operational information (e.g., congestion, etc.).

Referring back to FIG. 2B, network flows controller 256 includes logicthat calculates routing and forwarding information based on the networkinformation. According to an exemplary implementation, network flowscontroller 256 includes logic that calculates routing and forwarding oftraffic based on one or multiple administrative parameters. For example,an administrative parameter may indicate a minimum number N of activepaths allocated to an end user session or end device traffic.Additionally, or alternatively, an administrative parameter may indicatea maximum number X of active paths allocated to an end user session orend device traffic. Additionally, or alternatively, an administrativeparameter may indicate a metric. For example, the metric may include ashortest path metric and/or one or multiple trafficrequirements/performance metrics (e.g., jitter, latency, throughput, biterror rate, packet loss, etc.). According to an exemplaryimplementation, for the multi-active multi-path service, network flowscontroller 256 calculates disjoint paths (e.g., edge, vertex, etc.).According to other exemplary implementations, network flows controller256 calculates paths that are not disjoint paths.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a device 400that may correspond to one or more of the devices described herein. Forexample, device 400 may correspond to components of wireless station110, hub 150, data center 155, and end device 160. Additionally,exemplary elements of devices may be implemented based on the componentsdescribed herein. As illustrated in FIG. 4, device 400 includes a bus405, a processor 410, a memory/storage 415 that stores software 420, acommunication interface 425, an input 430, and an output 435. Accordingto other embodiments, device 400 may include fewer components,additional components, different components, and/or a differentarrangement of components than those illustrated in FIG. 4 and describedherein.

Bus 405 includes a path that permits communication among the componentsof device 400. For example, bus 405 may include a system bus, an addressbus, a data bus, and/or a control bus. Bus 405 may also include busdrivers, bus arbiters, bus interfaces, clocks, and so forth.

Processor 410 includes one or multiple processors, microprocessors, dataprocessors, co-processors, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), controllers, programmable logic devices, chipsets,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specificinstruction-set processors (ASIPs), system-on-chips (SoCs), centralprocessing units (CPUs) (e.g., one or multiple cores), microcontrollers,and/or some other type of component that interprets and/or executesinstructions and/or data. Processor 410 may be implemented as hardware(e.g., a microprocessor, etc.), a combination of hardware and software(e.g., a SoC, an ASIC, etc.), may include one or multiple memories(e.g., cache, etc.), etc.

Processor 410 may control the overall operation or a portion ofoperation(s) performed by device 400. Processor 410 may perform one ormultiple operations based on an operating system and/or variousapplications or computer programs (e.g., software 420). Processor 410may access instructions from memory/storage 415, from other componentsof device 400, and/or from a source external to device 400 (e.g., anetwork, another device, etc.). Processor 410 may perform an operationand/or a process based on various techniques including, for example,multithreading, parallel processing, pipelining, interleaving, etc.

Memory/storage 415 includes one or multiple memories and/or one ormultiple other types of storage mediums. For example, memory/storage 415may include one or multiple types of memories, such as, random accessmemory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), cache, read onlymemory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), a static randomaccess memory (SRAM), a single in-line memory module (SIMM), a dualin-line memory module (DIMM), a flash memory, and/or some other type ofmemory. Memory/storage 415 may include a hard disk (e.g., a magneticdisk, an optical disk, a magneto-optic disk, a solid state disk, etc.)and a corresponding drive. Memory/storage 415 may include a hard disk(e.g., a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optic disk, a solidstate disk, etc.), a Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS)-based storagemedium, and/or a nanotechnology-based storage medium. Memory/storage 415may include drives for reading from and writing to the storage medium.

Memory/storage 415 may be external to and/or removable from device 400,such as, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory stick, adongle, a hard disk, mass storage, off-line storage, or some other typeof storing medium (e.g., a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk(DVD), a Blu-Ray disk (BD), etc.). Memory/storage 415 may store data,software, and/or instructions related to the operation of device 400.

Software 420 includes an application or a program that provides afunction and/or a process. As an example, with reference to wirelessstation 110, software 420 may include an application that, when executedby processor 410, provides the functions of the 5G fronthaul service andthe 5G backhaul connection service, as described herein. Additionally,hub 150 may include an application that, when executed by processor 410,provides the small cell aggregation service, as described herein. Also,data center 155 may include an application that, when executed byprocessor 410, provides the functions of the 5G backhaul service.Similarly, end device 160 may include an application that, when executedby processor 410, provides the functions of the MIMO service, asdescribed herein. Software 420 may also include firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language (HDL), and/or other form ofinstruction.

Communication interface 425 permits device 400 to communicate with otherdevices, networks, systems, and/or the like. Communication interface 425includes one or multiple wireless interfaces. Communication interface425 may include one or multiple wired interfaces. For example,communication interface 425 may include one or multiple transmitters andreceivers, or transceivers. Communication interface 425 may operateaccording to a protocol stack and a communication standard.Communication interface 425 may include an antenna. Communicationinterface 425 may include various processing logic or circuitry (e.g.,multiplexing/de-multiplexing, filtering, amplifying, converting, errorcorrection, etc.).

Input 430 permits an input into device 400. For example, input 430 mayinclude a keyboard, a mouse, a display, a touchscreen, a touchlessscreen, a button, a switch, an input port, speech recognition logic,and/or some other type of visual, auditory, tactile, etc., inputcomponent. Output 435 permits an output from device 400. For example,output 435 may include a speaker, a display, a touchscreen, a touchlessscreen, a light, an output port, and/or some other type of visual,auditory, tactile, etc., output component.

Device 400 may perform a process and/or a function, as described herein,in response to processor 410 executing software 420 stored bymemory/storage 415. By way of example, instructions may be read intomemory/storage 415 from another memory/storage 415 (not shown) or readfrom another device (not shown) via communication interface 425. Theinstructions stored by memory/storage 415 cause processor 410 to performa process described herein. Alternatively, for example, according toother implementations, device 400 performs a process described hereinbased on the execution of hardware (processor 410, etc.).

FIGS. 5A-5E are diagrams illustrating an exemplary process of the 5Gfronthaul and backhaul connection services. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C,assume that end device 160 establishes communication links with datacenters 155-1 and 155-2 via wireless stations 110 (A), (B), and (C),respectively. For example, each wireless station 110 selects one routeto data center 155-1 via hub 150-1 and another route to data center155-2 via hub 150-2. As a result, based on a cooperative effort betweenthe MIMO service of end device 160 and the multi-active multi-pathservice of intelligent wireless mesh network 105, end device 160 mayhave multi-active multi-paths simultaneously established with datacenters 155, as illustrated in FIG. 5D. The selection of the routes andpaths are based on the mesh network controller service of data center155. For example, referring to FIG. 5E, assume that on the data plane,end device 160 has an aggregated throughput of 8 Gbps in which wirelessstations 110 (A), (B), and (C) share a respective load of 2 Gbps, 4Gbps, and 2 Gbps. According to this example, each hub 150 shares anequal load of 4 Gbps and each data center 155 shares an equal load of 4Gbps. The throughput of the data plane may be scaled by anadministrative parameter, such as a minimum number N and/or a maximumnumber X of active paths allocated to the end user session, and/oranother metric (e.g., a performance metric, etc.).

FIGS. 6A and 6B are flow diagrams illustrating an exemplary process 600pertaining to the 5G fronthaul and backhaul connection services. Process600 is directed to a process previously described above with respect toFIG. 2A, as well as elsewhere in this description. According to anexemplary embodiment, wireless station 110 performs steps of process600. For example, processor 410 executes software 420 to perform thesteps illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B and described herein.

Referring to FIG. 6A, block 605, process 600 may begin with powering ona wireless station. For example, wireless station 110 may be turned onby an installer when wireless station 110 is added to intelligentwireless mesh network 105. Alternatively, for example, wireless station110 may be in state (e.g., sleep, idle, etc.) and awakes in response toa triggering event.

In block 610, adjacency is discovered. For example, discovery controller200 of wireless station 110 searches for a signal transmitted by anadjacent or a neighbor wireless station 110. Discovery controller 200may search for a minimum number and/or a maximum number of adjacentwireless stations 110.

In block 615, a received signal level is measured. For example, whendiscovery controller 200 finds a signal during its search, discoverycontroller 200 measures a received power of the signal and compares themeasured power to a threshold value. Discovery controller 200 may alsocalculate other parameters (e.g., reference signal quality,signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio(SINR), etc.) based on the measured signal and compares the calculatedparameter to a threshold value.

In block 620, it is determined whether the link is a line of sight link.For example, discovery controller 200 determines whether the candidatelink is a line of sight link or not based on the comparison of themeasured and/or calculated parameters to the threshold values. Accordingto other exemplary implementations, process 600 may not include thisstep.

When it is determined that the link is not a line of sight link (block620—NO), then process continues to block 610. For example, discoverycontroller 200 may discard the candidate link as a link for use in thedata plane. Alternatively, for example, discovery controller 200 maylabel the candidate link as a non-line of sight link and proceed toblock 625.

When it is determined that the link is a line of sight link (block620—YES), it is determined whether a link budget is acceptable (block625). For example, link controller 202 calculates a link budget based onvarious parameters. According to an exemplary implementation, linkbudget information may include various parameters pertaining to systemgain, free-space path loss, multipath and fade margin, availability,signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), etc. Link controller 202 may calculate alink budget value representative of the link budget for the candidatelink based on the link budget information. Link controller 202 maycompare the link budget value to a threshold link budget value todetermine whether the link budget is acceptable. According to otherexemplary implementations, link controller 202 may also compare aparameter and value of the link budget to a threshold parameter value.

When it is determined that the link budget is not acceptable (block625—NO), then process continues to block 610. For example, when the linkbudget value does not satisfy the threshold link budget value, linkcontroller 202 determines that the link budget is not acceptable. Inresponse, wireless station 110 may return to block 610 and attempt todiscover another adjacent wireless station 110.

When it is determined that the link budget is acceptable (block625—YES), the link is established (block 630). For example, when thelink budget value satisfies the threshold link budget value, linkcontroller 202 determines that the link budget is acceptable. Inresponse, link controller 202 may perform various handshaking processeswith the adjacent wireless station 110 to establish the link. By way offurther example, link controller 202 may time synchronize with theadjacent wireless station 110, exchange communication information (e.g.,transmit and receive frequencies, etc.), perform authentication, etc.Link controller 202 may perform a handshaking process relative to eachadjacent wireless station 110.

In block 635, link parameters for the link are updated. For example,link controller 202 may store link information that includes, forexample, link parameters and values, link calculations, and a linkbudget report for each link established with an adjacent wirelessstation 110.

In block 640, a controller is pinged for acknowledgement. For example,in response to discovering and establishing links with a minimum numberof adjacent wireless stations 110, backend controller 204 may transmit aping message on the control plane to data center 155. According to otherexamples, in response to discovering and establishing links with amaximum number of adjacent wireless stations 110, backend controller 204may transmit a ping message on the control plane to data center 155.

Referring to FIG. 6B, in block 645, it is determined whether anacknowledgement is received. For example, backend controller 204 maydetermine whether a response message, which is responsive to the pingmessage and transmitted by data center 155, is received. When it isdetermined that the acknowledgement is not received (block 645—NO), thenprocess 600 continues to block 640. For example, backend controller 204may transmit another ping message. Backend controller 204 may use aback-off strategy before retransmitting a ping message after a failedattempt. Additionally, or alternatively, for example, backend controller204 may invoke an error process when a certain number of failed attemptsoccur.

When it is determined that the acknowledgement is received (block645—YES), the controller is updated with link information (block 650).For example, backend controller 204 may transmit the link information onthe control plane to data center 155.

In block 655, control information is obtained from the controller. Forexample, backend controller 204 may receive control information fromdata center 155. The control information may include routing andforwarding information for one or multiple planes (e.g., data, control,etc.). The control information may include control instructions and/ornetwork topology information.

In block 660, a wireless station-to-controller path is established. Forexample, wireless station 110 establishes a path on the data plane todata center 155 for each established link. According to an exemplaryimplementation, each path is disjoint relative to another path.According to another exemplary implementation, one or multiple paths maynot be disjoint (e.g., in whole or in part). By way of example, the pathmay correspond to a virtual local area network path (VLAN) or other typeof path, as described herein. Wireless station 110 may establish thepath based on the control information from data center 155. In this way,wireless station 110 has an end-to-end connection with data center 155.Wireless station 110 may establish multiple end-to-end connections viadifferent paths to data center 155. The path may include a route, aVLAN, a virtual circuit, a tunnel, a pipe, a flow, and/or othercommunication segment within intelligent wireless mesh network 105 to beused to provide the fronthaul service.

In block 665, traffic is routed based on the control information. Forexample, topology and routing controller 206 routes and forwards trafficto and from end device 160 based on the control information. Wirelessstation 110 may support one or multiple flows of traffic. The one ormultiple flows may belong to a same end user session or different enduser sessions. For example, referring back to FIG. 5E, wireless station110 (B) is supporting two flows (e.g., each at 2 Gbps). Each of theflows may be associated with the same end user session (e.g., thestreaming of a movie). Alternatively, each of the flows may beassociated with different end user sessions (e.g., the streaming of amovie and a video conference with a colleague).

In block 670, control information is reported to the controller. Forexample, wireless station 110 may continually monitor serviceperformance metrics, link parameters, traffic flow characteristics,etc., and report the results of the monitoring (e.g., controlinformation) to data center 155, as described herein.

Although FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate an exemplary process 600 of the 5Gfronthaul and backhaul connection services, according to otherembodiments, process 600 may include additional operations, feweroperations, and/or different operations than those illustrated in FIGS.6A and 6B and described herein.

FIGS. 7A-7C are flow diagrams illustrating an exemplary process 700pertaining to the 5G backhaul service. Process 700 is directed to aprocess previously described above with respect to FIG. 2B, as well aselsewhere in this description. According to an exemplary embodiment,data center 155 performs steps of process 700. For example, processor410 executes software 420 to perform the steps illustrated in FIGS.7A-7C and described herein.

Referring to FIG. 7A, block 705, a handshake with a wireless station isperformed. For example, front end controller 250 of data center 155 mayperform a handshake with wireless station 110 to establish an end-to-endconnection. The end-to-end connection may be on the control plane. Thehandshake process may include front end controller 250 transmitting amessage on the control plane to wireless station 110.

In block 710, it is determined whether the handshake is successful. Forexample, front end controller 250 may determine whether the handshake issuccessful based on the receipt of an acknowledgement from wirelessstation 110.

When it is determined that the handshake is not successful (block710—NO), the wireless station may be removed (block 715) from thenetwork topology information. For example, topology controller 252 ofdata center 155 may remove or deactivate (e.g., change its state)wireless station 110 from the network topology information. When it isdetermined that the handshake is successful (block 710—YES), a ping froma wireless station is received (block 720). For example, in relation toblock 640 of process 600, data center 155 may receive the ping fromwireless station 110 before the transmission of link information. Inblock 725, an acknowledgement is transmitted to the wireless station.For example, in response to receiving the ping, front end controller 250transmits the acknowledgement on the control plane to wireless station110.

In block 730, it is determined whether the transmitted acknowledgementis received. For example, according to an exemplary implementation inwhich a three-way handshake is implemented, data center 155 maydetermine whether the transmitted acknowledgement is received based onwhether an acknowledgement is received from wireless station 110.

When it is determined that the transmitted acknowledgement is notreceived (block 730—NO), process 700 may continue to block 725. Forexample, front end controller 250 may retransmit the acknowledgement towireless station 110. Front end controller 250 may use a back-offstrategy before retransmitting an acknowledgement after a failedattempt. Additionally, or alternatively, for example, front endcontroller 250 may invoke an error process when a certain number offailed attempts occur.

When it is determined that the transmitted acknowledgement is received(block 730—YES), link information is received from the wireless station.For example, front end controller 250 may receive the link informationon the control plane from wireless station 110.

In block 740, network topology information is calculated for thewireless station. For example, topology controller 252 calculates thenetwork topology of intelligent wireless mesh network 105 based on thelink information. Topology controller 252 may use other types of controlinformation, control information from other elements, etc., to calculatethe current network topology. Additionally, as previously described,topology controller 252 may use network analytics information tocontinually update the network topology.

Referring to FIG. 7B, in block 745, network topology information istransmitted to the wireless station. According to an exemplaryimplementation, front end controller 250 transmits network topologyinformation on the control plane to wireless station 110. According toanother exemplary implementation, front end controller 250 does nottransmit network topology information to wireless station 110. Forexample, topology and routing controller 206 may manage its own localnetwork topology table without receiving network topology informationfrom data center 155.

In block 750, it is determined whether an acknowledgement is received.For example, front end controller 250 may determine whether anacknowledgement is received for the network topology information. Whenit is determined that the acknowledgement is not received (block750—NO), process 700 may continue to block 745. For example, front endcontroller 250 may retransmit the network topology information towireless station 110. Front end controller 250 may use a back-offstrategy before retransmitting the network topology information after afailed attempt. Additionally, or alternatively, for example, front endcontroller 250 may invoke an error process when a certain number offailed attempts occur.

When it is determined that the acknowledgement is received (block750—YES), a controller-to-wireless station path is established (block755). For example, network flows controller 256 may establish acontroller-to-wireless station path on the data plane with wirelessstation 110. In this way, data center 155 has an end-to-end connectionwith wireless station 110. Network flows controller 256 may establishmultiple end-to-end connections via different paths to wireless station110. The path may include a route, a VLAN, a virtual circuit, a tunnel,a pipe, a flow, and/or other communication segment within intelligentwireless mesh network 105 to be used to provide the fronthaul service.

In block 760, control information is received from a wireless station.For example, front end controller 250 receives control information onthe control plane from wireless station 110. The control information mayinclude, for example, link information, service performance information,traffic flow information, and/or network topology information. Thecontrol information may be made available to other elements of datacenter 155.

In block 765, the control information is analyzed. For example, networkanalytics 254 uses the control information to analyze the current stateof intelligent wireless mesh network 105. According to an exemplaryimplementation, network analytics 254 may determine whether a path,routing, forwarding, etc., of a flow on the data plane should bechanged. For example, network analytics 254 may determine whether aperformance metric is being satisfied based on a comparison between ametric value (e.g., latency, etc.) included in the control informationcompared to a threshold metric value. Additionally, or alternatively,for example, network analytics 254 may identify a network state (e.g.,congestion, onset of congestion, node failure, link failure, etc.).

According to an exemplary embodiment, network analytics 254 may beconfigured to manage the network resources based on an administrativeparameter. The administrative parameter may be global parameter (e.g.,for all users, for the entire network, etc.) or non-global parameter(e.g., individual, a group of users, type of traffic (e.g., real-time,non-real-time, type of application (e.g., web browser, etc.), portion ofthe network, etc.). For example, the administrative parameter mayindicate a minimum and/or maximum number of activate paths allocated toan end user session, a metric (e.g., shortest path, a traffic and/orperformance metric), and/or another type of variable pertaining togovernance of traffic flows, network resource usage, etc.

In block 770, it is determined whether to change a configuration of thenetwork. For example, network analytics 254 may determine whethercontrol information is to be generated to provide the change in theconfiguration of the network. By way of example, network analytics 254may determine whether to change a path currently used by wirelessstation 110. Referring to FIG. 7C, when it is determined that a changewill not be made (block 770—NO), then process 700 may continue to block760. For example, network analytics 254 may wait to receive anotherinstance of control information from wireless station 110 (or anotherelement of environment 100). In this way, network analytics 254 may usethe control information to efficiently manage the network resources ofthe elements in environment 100 and provide quality of service to theend user.

When it is determined that a change will be made (block 770—YES),control information is generated (block 775). For example, networkanalytics 254 generates control information to effect the change. By wayof further example, network analytics 254 may generate routing andforwarding information to be used by wireless station 110.

In block 780, the control information is transmitted. For example, inresponse to the generation of the control information, front endcontroller 250 transmits the control information on the control plane towireless station 110 and/or other element of environment 100. Process700 may continue to block 760.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the process of wireless station110 providing control information to data center 155 and data center 155analyzing and determining whether changes should be made or not iscontinually repeated. With reference to block 780 and wireless station110, wireless station 110 receives the control information andconfigures itself according to the change. For example, wireless station110 may modify one or more paths on the data plane, such as one or morepaths to the controller, one or more paths to end device 160, or both.The path may be an active path (e.g., traffic flowing along the path) ornot (e.g., an established path but no traffic flowing).

Although FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate an exemplary process 700 of the 5Gbackhaul service, according to other embodiments, process 700 mayinclude additional operations, fewer operations, and/or differentoperations than those illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7C and described herein.For example, according to an exemplary embodiment, network analytics 254includes logic that identifies a network state in which humanintervention may be invoked. For example, network analytics 254 maystore triggering event information that permits the identification ofthe network state. The network state may be a current state or a futurestate (e.g., predictive). According to an exemplary implementation,network analytics 254 notifies and/or alerts a network administrator orother type of user of the network state. Network analytics 254 includeslogic that provides a user interface that permits the user to configurea portion or the entire network by selecting or inputting anadministrative parameter or other network configuration information.According to another exemplary implementation, network analytics 254includes logic that generates a recommendation to the user on how tomanage the network state. The user may accept, deny, or change therecommendation. Network analytics 254 generates and transmits thecontrol information based on the acceptance or alteration of therecommendation. Alternatively, when the user denies the recommendation,the user may configure control information so that the controlinformation may be subsequently transmitted.

FIGS. 8A-8D are diagrams that illustrate exemplary configurations of awireless station or a portion of a wireless station. For example, inFIG. 8A, wireless station 110 may include a shroud 805 to enclose thefunctional components. Shroud 805 may be implemented as streetfurniture, such as a lamp post, bench, building facade, bus stop, oranother type of enclosure that can house a wireless interface for accesscommunication (e.g., between wireless station 110 and end device 160),fronthaul communication (e.g., between wireless stations 110), andbackhaul communication (e.g., between wireless station 110 and hub 150).Alternatively, for example, in FIG. 8B, wireless station 110 may includea shroud 810 as illustrated. Similarly, shroud 810 may be implemented asstreet furniture or another type of enclosure that can house a wirelessinterface for access communication and a wired interface (e.g., opticalfiber, etc.) for fronthaul communication and/or backhaul communication.While wireless station 110 in FIGS. 8A and 8B are illustrated as mountedto a street lamp, wireless station 110 may be mounted to or affixed toother objects that are present in a particular locale. Alternatively,wireless station 110 may include its own free standing support system.

According to an exemplary embodiment, wireless station 110 isimplemented as a modularized configuration or form factor in which theconfiguration or form factor is the same or substantially the same foraccess, fronthaul, and backhaul. The term “substantially” is used hereinto represent a degree by which a quantitative representation may varyfrom a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basicfunction of the subject matter at issue. For example, in FIG. 8C, shroud805 may include a shroud 820-1 and a shroud 820-2. Referring to FIG. 8D,shroud 820-1 may house fronthaul and backhaul radio and antennas 830 andshroud 820-2 may house access radio and antennas 835. The antennas foreach shroud 820 may be tilted, as well as other parameters (e.g., power,frequency, etc.) configured to provide respective access, fronthaul, andbackhaul services. The form factor for antennas 830 and 835 may be thesame, as illustrated in FIG. 8D. According to other examples, the formfactor may be different from one another. Additionally, the tri-sectorantenna form of antennas 830 and 835 is merely exemplary. According toother exemplary implementations, the sector antenna forms betweenfronthaul/backhaul and access may be different (e.g., 180 degrees, 270degrees, etc.), may be different from one another, etc. As illustratedin FIG. 9, wireless stations 110-1 to 110-6 may be dispersed in variouslocations and may have links 910-1 to 910-7 to provide the 5G fronthaulservice and backhaul connection service. For wireless station 110 inFIG. 8A, wireless station 110 may include a wire or line for power. Incontrast, for wireless station 110 in FIG. 8B, wireless station 110 mayinclude the wire or line for power and another wire or line (e.g.,cable, optical fiber, etc.) for fronthaul communication and/or backhaulcommunication.

The foregoing description of embodiments provides illustration, but isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the preciseform disclosed. In the preceding description, various embodiments havebeen described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However,various modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additionalembodiments may be implemented, without departing from the broader scopeof the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The descriptionand drawings are accordingly to be regarded as illustrative rather thanrestrictive.

In addition, while series of blocks have been described with regard tothe processes illustrated in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 7A-7C, the order of theblocks may be modified according to other embodiments. Further,non-dependent blocks may be performed in parallel. Additionally, otherprocesses described in this description may be modified and/ornon-dependent operations may be performed in parallel.

The embodiments described herein may be implemented in many differentforms of software executed by hardware. For example, a process or afunction may be implemented as “logic” or as a “component.” The logic orthe component may include, for example, hardware (e.g., processor 410,etc.), or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., software 420).The embodiments have been described without reference to the specificsoftware code since the software code can be designed to implement theembodiments based on the description herein and commercially availablesoftware design environments/languages.

As set forth in this description and illustrated by the drawings,reference is made to “an exemplary embodiment,” “an embodiment,”“embodiments,” etc., which may include a particular feature, structureor characteristic in connection with an embodiment(s). However, the useof the phrase or term “an embodiment,” “embodiments,” etc., in variousplaces in the specification does not necessarily refer to allembodiments described, nor does it necessarily refer to the sameembodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarilymutually exclusive of other embodiment(s). The same applies to the term“implementation,” “implementations,” etc.

The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to be interpreted to includeone or more items. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to beinterpreted as “based, at least in part, on,” unless explicitly statedotherwise. The term “and/or” is intended to be interpreted to includeany and all combinations of one or more of the associated items.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example.” Anyembodiment or implementation described as “exemplary” is not necessarilyto be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments orimplementations.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another, thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, the temporalorder in which instructions executed by a device are performed, etc.,but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having acertain name from another element having a same name (but for use of theordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.

Additionally, embodiments described herein may be implemented as anon-transitory storage medium that stores data and/or information, suchas instructions, program code, data structures, program modules, anapplication, etc. The program code, instructions, application, etc., isreadable and executable by a processor (e.g., processor 410) of acomputational device. A non-transitory storage medium includes one ormore of the storage mediums described in relation to memory/storage 415.

No element, act, or instruction described in the present applicationshould be construed as critical or essential to the embodimentsdescribed herein unless explicitly described as such.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: establishing, by acontroller device, a first link with a wireless station of a wirelessaccess network, wherein the wireless access network is one of a nextgeneration partial mesh network or a next generation full mesh network;receiving, by the controller device via the first link from the wirelessstation, current control information pertaining to one or multiplesecond links of a data plane for end user traffic that are between thewireless station and one or multiple wireless stations of the wirelessaccess network, wherein the current control information includes one ormore of link information that indicates whether the one or multiplesecond links are a line of sight link or not a line of sight link,service performance information that indicates one or more serviceperformance metrics, or traffic flow information; analyzing, by thecontroller device, the current control information; determining, by thecontroller device in response to the analyzing, whether the one ormultiple second links should be changed; changing, by the controllerdevice, one or more of the one or multiple second links when determiningthat the one or multiple second links should be changed; andtransmitting, by the controller device to the wireless station, routingand forwarding information that indicates the one or more of the one ormultiple second links.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:calculating, by the controller device, network topology information forthe wireless station based on the link information.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the controller device viathe first link, network topology information to the wireless station. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: establishing, by thecontroller device, an end-to-end connection with the wireless station ona data plane for the end user traffic, wherein the first link is on acontrol plane.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more serviceperformance metrics include one or more of throughput, latency, packetloss, error rate, or link utilization.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe determining further comprises: determining, by the controllerdevice, whether the one or multiple second links should be changed basedon at least one of a minimum number of active paths to be allocated toan end user session or a maximum number of active paths to be allocatedto the end user session.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining further comprises: determining, by the controller device,whether the one or multiple second links should be changed based on oneor more service performance metric requirements pertaining to an enduser session.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the link informationincludes a link budget, and wherein the next generation partial meshnetwork includes a fifth generation (5G) partial mesh network and thenext generation full mesh network includes a fifth generation (5G) fullmesh network.
 9. A network device comprising: a communication interface;a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions; and a processor,wherein the processor executes the instructions to: establish, via thecommunication interface, a first link with a wireless station of awireless access network, wherein the wireless access network is one of anext generation partial mesh network or a next generation full meshnetwork; receive, via the communication interface from the wirelessstation, current control information pertaining to one or multiplesecond links of a data plane for end user traffic that are between thewireless station and one or multiple wireless stations of the wirelessaccess network, wherein the current control information includes one ormore of link information that indicates whether the one or multiplesecond links are a line of sight link or not a line of sight link,service performance information that indicates one or more serviceperformance metrics, or traffic flow information; analyze the currentcontrol information; determine, in response to the analysis, whether theone or multiple second links should be changed; change one or more ofthe one or multiple second links when determining that the one ormultiple second links should be changed; and transmit, via thecommunication interface to the wireless station, routing and forwardinginformation that indicates the one or more of the one or multiple secondlinks.
 10. The network device of claim 9, wherein the processor furtherexecutes the instructions to: calculate network topology information forthe wireless station based on the link information.
 11. The networkdevice of claim 9, wherein the processor further executes theinstructions to: transmit, via the communication interface to thewireless station, network topology information.
 12. The network deviceof claim 9, wherein the processor further executes the instructions to:establish, via the communication interface, an end-to-end connectionwith the wireless station on a data plane for the end user traffic,wherein the first link is on a control plane.
 13. The network device ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more service performance metrics include oneor more of throughput, latency, packet loss, error rate, or linkutilization.
 14. The network device of claim 9, wherein, whendetermining, the processor further executes the instructions to:determine whether the one or multiple second links should be changedbased on at least one of a minimum number of active paths to beallocated to an end user session or a maximum number of active paths tobe allocated to the end user session.
 15. The network device of claim 9,wherein, when determining, the processor further executes theinstructions to: determine whether the one or multiple second linksshould be changed based on one or more service performance metricrequirements pertaining to an end user session.
 16. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions executable by aprocessor of a device, which when executed cause the device to:establish a first link with a wireless station of a wireless accessnetwork, wherein the wireless access network is one of a next generationpartial mesh network or a next generation full mesh network; receive,via the first link from the wireless station, current controlinformation pertaining to one or multiple second links of a data planefor end user traffic that are between the wireless station and one ormultiple wireless stations of the wireless access network, wherein thecurrent control information includes one or more of link informationthat indicates whether the one or multiple second links are a line ofsight link or not a line of sight link, service performance informationthat indicates one or more service performance metrics, or traffic flowinformation; analyze the current control information; determine, basedon the analysis, whether the one or multiple second links should bechanged; change one or more of the one or multiple second links whendetermining that the one or multiple second links should be changed; andtransmit, to the wireless station, routing and forwarding informationthat indicates the one or more of the one or multiple second links. 17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, whereinthe instructions further comprise instructions executable by theprocessor of the device, which when executed cause the device to:calculate network topology information for the wireless station based onthe link information.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to determine furthercomprise instructions executable by the processor of the device, whichwhen executed cause the device to: determine whether the one or multiplesecond links should be changed based on one or more service performancemetric requirements pertaining to an end user session.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein theinstructions to determine further comprise instructions executable bythe processor of the device, which when executed cause the device to:determine whether the one or multiple second links should be changedbased on at least one of a minimum number of active paths to beallocated to an end user session or a maximum number of active paths tobe allocated to the end user session.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the linkinformation includes a link budget, and wherein the next generationpartial mesh network includes a fifth generation (5G) partial meshnetwork and the next generation full mesh network includes a fifthgeneration (5G) full mesh network.